Other details:May be a noxious weed or invasiveThis plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birdsAverage Water Needs; Water regularly; do not overwaterSelf-sows freely; deadhead if you do not want volunteer seedlings next season

Beggar lice, as we call this plant, is simply a noxious weed that grows vigourously and will shade almost everything under it's 9'+ canopy! The seed are easily spread, especially on your clothing, where raw cotton can be used to remove them. While they can be controlled with herbicides, the most effective ones are very difficult to use in a garden environment. Maybe in a very confined space they can be controlled, but not in my .5 acre garden. I would no more plant this weed for it's simple little blueish flower than I would use kudzoo for ground cover!

This plant also grows in the Upstate of SC. I have several specimens of it in my gardens. Most, I've tried to get rid of, however I've left one in my newest mini flower garden on a trial basis. The flowers are pretty, however the seeds are very annoying. The jury's still out on whether I'll let it stay or not!

Ditto to Melody's note above. We often encounter the flowers on late summer walks on local trails along path edges both in shaded woods and along sunny meadow paths mown by a local horsemen's organization. So, it's a tough but gracefully airy plant with flowers floating on thin wands. It must be pretty deer resistant to flourish among so many deer, here, too.

From the way it grows, I think it would make a great "jack-in-the-box" plant, coming up through maidenhair ferns and edged in front with wild violets. Adding a few of the shade tolerant Aster divaricata in front to extend the season, along with a small "grove" of native deciduous azaleas in back that also flourish around here - Azalea prinophylla (syn. Rhododendron nudiflorum 'rosea') - would make this a 4-season corner of a "wild" garden (If deer are a problem, perhaps substitute mountain laurel which loves the northwest side of local hills).